| Abstract [eng] |
Following the approaches of Conceptual History and Critical Discourse Studies, this dissertation aims to examine the development of the concept of internationalisation in higher education in Eastern Europe (Lithuania and Estonia) from 1990 to 2020. By comparing the semantic fields of the concept of internationalisation in different periods, we show which concepts constitute the semantic field of internationalisation and how it changes. The results of the study show that the concept of internationalisation entered the discourse of the region at a time when Eastern Europe was conceptually re-incorporated in the common European discourse. During this period, the pursuit of quality and efficiency also began to emerge in the discourse on higher education. Internationalisation is, thus, primarily conceptualized as part of the quality discourse. This later leads to a situation where internationalisation is operationalized as a measure of quality and a means to achieve it, while quality in turn presupposes internationalisation. Such positive coding of internationalisation echoes the positive coding of the normalized West, especially when “international” in the discourse of Eastern European higher education almost exclusively means “Western” or “European”. Although the current conceptualization of internationalisation is less Western-oriented, its historical development shows that internationalisation in Eastern Europe is not just a higher education trend. The concept also encompasses the legacy of the 1990s, which links it to internal aspirations and external expectations that, after the transition period, the demi-orientalized Eastern Europe will become European, i.e., similar to Western Europe, which is considered the norm. |
